Team Lex is back for another year of fighting for a cure for Cystic Fibrosis. My name is Brett, and my little man is the reason I fight every single day.

In the beginning, we were just trying to figure things out and take it one day at a time. Every appointment came with a lot of stress and a lot of unknowns. Was he growing a new bacteria? Did he lose weight? What was that cough? Were they going to tell us we needed to go back to the hospital?

Those questions felt constant. Our only job was to do whatever we could to make sure our little boy could just be a little boy. Every small win and every milestone turned into a huge celebration, because at the end of the day, we had a happy, healthy, beautiful kid. Yes, he has Cystic Fibrosis—but that’s not who he is, and it never will be.

Thanks to the amazing fundraising through the Great Strides Foundation, we were able to try a new medication when Alexander was a little over a year old, and honestly, it changed everything. For the first time, his body could do what it was supposed to do. The medication helped keep his mucus from getting so thick, which meant fewer lung issues and a lower chance of bacteria growing in his lungs. One of the biggest changes was weight gain—something we had always worried about was suddenly no longer an issue.

That shift forced us to completely change how we think about CF. We still do the vest, the nebulizer, and daily medications, but instead of worrying about getting enough calories in, we had to learn how to pull back. Going from high-calorie meals to low-calorie meals was not something we ever expected, especially after everything we were taught early on.

Even with all this progress, we can’t stop fighting. These medications are incredible, but they aren’t a cure. There are still daily treatments, regular labs, scans, and appointments to make sure the medicine is working and not causing harm. And the biggest reason we keep pushing forward is this: not everyone with Cystic Fibrosis can take the medications that are available right now.

So until there is a cure for everyone with CF, we’ll keep showing up, keep fighting, and keep doing everything we can.